Castelnuovo del Garda
24 June 2022
It’s June 24, 1866: a handful of men, barricaded in a building, surrounded by the enemy, with no way out, rationing ammunition and taking advantage of what little they had managed to hold off from the ever advancing multitude. Now alone (the rest of the Allies were falling back in the distance), with ammunition running out and the opponents setting fire to the house to flush them out, the officers decide to surrender to save the lives of the few remaining. Only one thing is missing: the Regimental Flag, which could not be delivered into the hands of the enemy.
It is decided to tear the flag to pieces, each of the men will guard a part of it, the staff and arrow are hidden in the chimney and then the declaration of surrender. The enemy seeing them in small numbers leaving the settlement grants the honour of arms and even compliments the bravery of the few. When the war was over, the flag was reassembled and in a solemn ceremony, it was handed back to its Regiment in St. Mark’s Square in Venice. This is the story of Oliosi’s Tricolour, the flag of the 44th Infantry of the Forli Brigade.
